In Austin, the fab experience will be courtesy of Chevron’s Fab Lab Permian Basin mobile lab (Chevron sponsors 10 fab labs, at locations around the country). On board? 3D printers, laser cutters, milling machines, CNC routers , work benches and some serious computing power – all packed into a 27-foot trailer.

Most of the time mobile Fab Labs are on the road, bringing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning and tools to students in schools that don’t have those labs, those tools, those opportunities. The kids are learning STEM, by doing STEM. But this month, the Fab Lab will be spreading the word about the program to teachers and other folks working in education (and yes, technically, it will be appearing at the SXSW EDU Festival, which then leads into its better known sibling, the music SXSW).

(*But thinking about it, “Fab Lab” would make an excellent name for a band. Industrial rock, or a band with a trippy, psychedelic sound. Or maybe – maybe it ought to be a truly experimental band – no musicians, just a group of autonomous instruments, playing themselves on stage. If you’re the musical sort, we turn that idea over to you.)

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